Action Lists Screen
Action lists (or "context lists") are the heart of the
GTD® system, and they are also the the
heart of
the Action Lists app. On this screen you can access all of your contexts on the go. Each
context is
listed with the number of active tasks in that context. When one of those tasks
becomes overdue, the number is displayed on a red background to grab
your attention. As you go about your day and
have some discretionary time
to choose your work, you can take stock of your location and the tools that you have
available, and look just in
those contexts to find a list of tasks that you can complete with the resources available
at that moment. By focusing just on
tasks that can be completed now, and not becoming distracted by what cannot currently
be accomplished, you can make
the most of your time and be more productive.
Task List Screen
When an action list is selected, you are presented with the list of "next actions"
for that context. By default, tasks with a start date in the future are hidden
in the action lists. This gives you immediate access to the tasks that are
relevant to you now, without the clutter of
tasks that can't be completed when or where you are.
In a task list, tasks are displayed with a summary of its critical information: the project
it is a part of, an icon to indicate if a note has been assigned to the task, and
any due date that has been assigned. When a task is approaching its due date, its due date
changes to orange to warn you that it will be due soon. If it becomes overdue,
its due date changes to red so that late items recognized at a glance. As tasks are
completed, they can be checked off. Completed tasks
are (by default) visible on the day that they are completed, so that you can see your progress through the day.
Tasks that were completed further in the past are hidden so as to not clutter your view.
Task Details Screen
If you would like to see more detail on a task, simply tap it to reach the task detail screen.
On this screen you can view all the details of the selected task including start and due dates, its assigned context
and project, how often the task is set to repeat, and any notes that have been attached.
(Not all fields are not pictured
in this screenshot. To view them, you would scroll down.) If you need to modify any aspect of the selected task,
simply tap on the field that you would like to edit. If,
upon review, you realize that your task is too large in scope, you can convert it into a project.
If you'd like to share a task,
you can tap on the envelope icon at the bottom of the screen to email it to another person.
Projects and Subprojects
One of the convenient features of Action Lists is that it makes it easy to group related tasks into a project.
These projects are collected in the Projects screen which can be accessed through the tab bar at the bottom of
each screen. If a project proves to be too large to manage, any number of subprojects can be created under the
project to
represent a part of the larger project. As pictured here, these subprojects are listed when
you browse
the contents of the parent project. Unlike some other to-do lists for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Action Lists
places no artificial limits on how many levels of subprojects you can use. So if you find that a subproject is
still too large, you can again create new subprojects under the original subproject, and continue doing so
until the project
is split into manageable pieces.
Other Lists
Action Lists also allows you to access your other
GTD® lists. The tab bar interface at the bottom
of each screen makes it fast and easy to switch between your Inbox, action lists, project lists, Waiting list,
and Someday list. You'll notice that every list that accepts tasks has a Quick Task button
in the toolbar. Using the Quck Task screen, you can add several tasks at a time — great
for doing a quick mind dump into the Inbox or a project list. Once you get your tasks entered,
you can search your lists by scrolling to the top of a list to reveal the search bar. You can
search just the current list or all of your lists at once.
